A Hero's Shadow Chapter 2
by XShatteredNightmareX
Summary: Link hears noises in his basement one night. What could possibly be down there? Our Hero goes to investigate. (I am SO SORRY for not posting for such a long time. I appreciate your patience!)


Link slowly walked over to the darkened rectangle in his floor that was the entrance to his basement. He swallowed nervously, he hadn't been to the basement in years. Dare he go now?

Maybe he was fretting over nothing? Maybe it was just a rat? No, he had to investigate. He couldn't risk having an enemy in his house.

He reluctantly began to climb the steep ladder into the dark basement. As long as he had his lantern with him, he could see. But as a child, he always feared of being locked down in the basement.

His bare feet finally stepped down onto the wooden floor. There were several things down in that dark space, many of them were discarded objects, lost and forgotten. Link sighed and walked over to one of the boxes, he ran his hand on the top of it. He groaned when he saw that his hand was covered in dust, proof of the object's lost presence. He sighed.

He walked over to a small mirror in the corner. He saw a pair of blue eyes stare back at him. He sighed. Just as he thought there was nothing down here.

He doused out the lantern and proceeded to leave, but when he heard a noise behind him he turned around and saw a pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness.

Link let out a scream and lit the lantern quickly, waving it around madly.

It was merely a phantom of his imagination…

His relief did not last long.

"_Eeeheehee!"_

Link gasped and he felt a chill run up his spine. That haunting laugh that seemed to echo in his mind….where was it coming from? "Who's there?" Link asked firmly and looked around, waving the lantern around.

"_Hehe! You really want to know?" _

The voice was mockingly vicious. Like the bully of every child's school.

Link was feeling mixed emotions. Half scared, half annoyed.

"Show yourself!"

"_Very well. Why don't you look into the mirror over there?" _Asked the voice.

Link swallowed and did so. He reluctantly stepped towards it, starring at his own reflection.

"_The lantern. Put it out." _The voice demanded.

Link sighed. He knew he would come to regret this, but he did as he was told anyway like the obedient man he was.

He did so and the reflection in the mirror was not his own. A pair of crimson eyes shot back at him, like in his dreams…

Link gasped and took a step back. "W-what…what are you?" He asked, his voice shaking on every word.

A fingerless gloved hand shot out of the mirror and the entire figure of a man stepped out of the mirror.

Link couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was…him! Well, not quite. This man was a bit taller, had white hair and glowing red eyes. But an evil smirk never left his lips. His tunic was black, as opposed to the green one Link wore.

But otherwise, it was him and nothing short of that.

"Surprised?" The man asked, that grin of his only broadening. He took a step towards Link.

"I….I wasn't expecting-" "You weren't expecting me?" The other man corrected. "Hehe. Of course not. Nobody does."

He took a few steps forward until Link was practically at the wall. "What do you want?" Link asked.

"Ugh. Do you ever stop with the questions? You light dwellers are too damn curious!" The darker man's smirk disappeared, but soon it was back.

"Especially you, Link." He came unbearably close to Link's face. The latter could only hope that this man wasn't here to kill him, whatever he was.

"I know you better than anyone." He smiled. "You're curious, you just can't leave well enough alone. But that's okay, it's all a part of your heroic persona….right? The mask you hide behind?" His voice became incredibly callous yet soft and quiet.

Link blinked. "I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you don't." The darker man extended his gloved hand and took a few locks of Link's dirty blonde hair in his fingers. The latter swatted his hand away and ran to the other side of the basement. He panted softly.

The other man turned around and smiled, those red eyes of his glowing like a pair of jasper's in the dark.

"A lot of people call me…your other half. But I prefer to be called "Dark Link", because that's what I am. But you, may call me Dark if you wish." He smiled and clasped his hands together.

"I don't think you realize how fun this is going to be!" He laughed and skipped merrily towards his lighter counterpart.

"Please, I don't know what you are or where you came from but just….go away…I've been having enough problems as it is!" Link complained.

A frown threatened to crease Dark Link's eyebrows. "Aww, is Hyrule's Hero having bad dreams?" He chuckled, amused.

"I think those dreams are going to go away, Link. I should know, I made them." He turned around and smiled, waiting patiently for Link's reaction.

"What? You? Why?" Link stammered.

"Because!" Dark Link simply answered and turned around. "But there's no point in making them for you now…because I'm here…and guess what? You can't tell anyone about me because your the only person who can see me."

Dark Link grinned in victory.

Link blinked. "I am? But...how is that possible?!" Dark Link growled and grabbed Link's arms. "I think I've had just enough of your questions, so why don't you sit down and let ME talk for once, hm?!" He threw Link onto the ground.

"Stay down there. I'll tell you a story."

Link groaned in pain and looked up at Dark Link, eager to know what he was going to tell him.

Dark Link jumped up and crossed his legs, he floated contently in mid air….as if he were just sitting down on the ground. Link raised a confused eyebrow.

"Alright, believe whatever you want to believe…but THIS tale is based off of a true story! And no, you aren't dreaming." He smirked.

Dark Link actually licked his lips, almost lustfully before beginning.

"A long time ago, when the sacred realm was still in Hyrule…there were beings who excelled at using dark magic. They tried to take over the sacred realm. They were called Anterloopers. Heard of them?" Dark Link raised an eyebrow as he asked this. His cold gaze demanded the answer "yes".

Link nodded his head, recalling what the spirit Lanayaru once told him.

"Well, those beings were banished the Twilight Realm…I'm sure you've heard of /that/ too. Anyways, bottom line…those beings are my ancestors. Which explains why I'm the spitting image of them, hm?" Dark Link tilted his head to one side and winked.

"But I'm not like them. I have no plans to destroy Hyrule, why would I? It's too much fun here." He said and floated gently back down to the ground but his arms remained fixed, folded across his chest. "Where I've been this whole time….I've resided in you. You're darkness, both inner and outer. I'm the shadow you see on the ground at sunrise, I'm the reflection in the mirror, I'm the monster in your dreams, the cold chill down your spine, the wind blowing through your hair and the reason why you look behind your shoulder." Dark Link slowly approached Link as he said this, starring down at him.

"I'm you." Dark Link admitted with a smile.

Link was confused. How could a man so different, be him?

He said nothing and just looked to the side.

"Now, you probably want to go back to dreamland so….I'll just let you go for now. But don't forget, I'm always watching you. And not just when you're sleeping…heh…heheeh…HEHEHAHAHAHA!" Dark Link suddenly ran towards Link, but instead of bumping into him, he went right through him. Link screamed as he felt Dark Link being absorbed into his very body and mind. He could feel the beating of his heart and the thoughts in his head.

The laughing stopped and Link was alone again.


End file.
